The Joy of the Lord in the Home

 

"As soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy" (St. Luke 1:44).

Introduction

Joy should be a decided feature in Catholic homes, which are domestic churches. Catholic parents should do all in their power to create a joyful atmosphere -- a joyful culture -- in the home. Joy is one of the fruits of the Holy Ghost, and it is one of those fruits that is most at risk of being lost when one is accustomed to fighting battles. Thus it is that among Traditionalist Catholics, it is the fruit that tends to be most lacking. Saint Teresa of Avila once remarked, "a sad saint is a bad saint." Saint Francis de Sales also said, "a sad saint would be a sorry saint." In the domestic church, parents should be striving to raise their children to be wholesome citizens and joyful saints. How else do we do that than to build a joyful Catholic culture in the home? Then, that Catholic culture in the home radiates outward and builds the Catholic culture in society.

The Liturgical Year

There is a joy unique among all joys to be discovered in living the Catholic Liturgical Year in the home. For some, this looks like praying the Breviary (also called the Divine Office [Vetus Ordo] or the Liturgy of the Hours [Novus Ordo]). For other families, this means praying according to the current Liturgical Season in the morning and the evening, for example, praying the weekly Collect before the morning offering or before the nightly examination of conscience. Still other families will cook their way through the Liturgical Year. Other parents will mix special drinks for certain feastdays. 

I remember that one year, the way my parents lived Lent was to pray daily the Fifteen Prayers of Saint Bridget. Since hauling five small children to the Good Friday Liturgy was out of the question for my parents, they nevertheless kept the three-o'clock hour as an hour of absolute silence. No one was to talk during that time, and my parents had the patience to direct all five of us to quiet activities. There are no wrong ways to celebrate the Seasons of the Liturgical Year, but each Season can be marked by different activities or different prayers. Whatever we do, the experiences we give our children in their short years under our guidance should be marked by wholesomeness and joy. These won't be their only experiences, but they will be their foundational ones.

Sacramentals

Another way to bring joy into the home is by the use of sacramentals. Sacramentals help us to "bridge the divide" between the domestic church and the parish church. The Christmas Season in the Vetus Ordo, for example, provides many blessings of sacramentals that can be used in our homes throughout the year:

1. the Blessing of Saint John's Wine on December 27th;

2. the Exorcism and Blessing of Water and Salt on the Eve of the Epiphany, January 5th;

3. the Blessing of Chalk, Gold, Incense, and Myrrh on Epiphany, January 6th;

4. the Epiphany Home Blessing that can be done between Epiphany and the Baptism of the Lord, January 6th -- January 13th; and

5. the Blessing of Candles at Candlemas, February 2nd.

(If these rites and blessings were allowed in the same manner in the Novus Ordo and the new Book of Blessings, it would take away some of the sting of the Vetus Ordo being recently severely limited and nearly completely taken away, but I digress.)

The use of these sacramentals and others, such as Exorcised and Blessed Oil, the Oil of Saint Philomena, and Exorcised and Blessed Medals of Saint Benedict (all of which are used in my home), are a source of joy and gladness for both parents and children.

The Father's Blessing

Another source of joy that I can attest to from my own family's practice is the daily blessing I, as a father, give to my children. I bestow this daily blessing on each of the children in the evening just before bed. My wife and I have found that the children become eager and ready for bed after this blessing. When tracing the Sign of the Cross upon the forehead of each of the children with holy water or blessed oil, I usually say the following blessing:

May almighty God, + Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, bless you in time and eternity, and may this blessing remain always with you. And may the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mary Immaculate, Saint Joseph, [N.N. name saints], [N. patron saint for the year], and your Guardian Angel watch over you and protect you through the night. Amen.

The beginning part of the blessing above was inspired by Sam Guzman of The Catholic Gentleman, on one of his podcasts. Here is a great article from him regarding a father's blessing. Sometimes, if it is late, I use a shortened form to bless each child while tracing the Sign of the Cross on each one's forehead, again with holy water or blessed oil:

I bless you in the Name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

If I am away for work or on some other business, I allow my wife to bless them for me, and she uses her own words for this blessing. My wife and I have found that the children remind us of the daily blessing if we try to skip over it for a night. They are not ready for bed until they have been blessed. This is a source of joy to us because it has become such an important and permanent part of our evening ritual in the home.

Two Feasts

I would propose adding two feasts to be celebrated in every Catholic home: Saint Philip Neri, the patron saint of joy, on May 26th; and the Seven Joys of Mary on August 27th. The former is already on the universal Liturgical Calendar in both the Vetus Ordo and the Novus Ordo; the latter, however, is a Franciscan feast that has largely been forgotten. We have retained the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, so why not reclaim the Seven Joys of Mary? As the lay faithful, we do not have to wait for a feast to be initiated by the Church's Liturgy in order to celebrate it in our domestic churches. Often enough in the Church's history, feasts were instituted Liturgically only after extensive devotion was initiated and firmly established by the faithful. 

Conclusion

These, then, are the means that I propose for joyfully living the life of the domestic church. First, to live the Church's Liturgical Year in some way in the home. Second, to generously and freely make use of sacramentals in the home. Third, by blessing one's children often, even daily. Fourth, by devotion to Saint Philip Neri and to the Seven Joys of Our Lady. Now we must go out and live joyfully the life of the home, transforming it into a joyful domestic church.